Chapter 125 Misunderstanding
"Hey, wake up!"

"Chen Ji, wake up!"

Chen Ji was patted hard on the shoulder. In his sleep, he subconsciously turned around and grabbed the hand, twisting the other person's right hand behind his back.

The captured person cried out in pain: "It hurts, let go!"

Chen Ji suddenly woke up. This was not the inner prison, not the sea of ​​fire beside the Mudan Bridge, nor the city gate tunnel full of dangers.

He nostrils could smell the strong scent of books, rosin and ink of Zhixing Academy. There were only rows of bookshelves here, and no murderous intent from swords or knives.

Chen Ji quickly let go, and when he looked carefully, he was shocked to find that the person he had just captured was Zhang Xia, who was dressed in fiery red.

broken.

How did I capture this guy?

Zhang Xia rubbed his wrists and frowned, "What kind of habit is this? Sleeping while standing is fine, but hitting people after waking up?"

Chen Ji explained: "Sorry, sorry, I was in a deep sleep. I was having a nightmare about being chased by someone, and when I was woken up by the slap, I subconsciously wanted to resist."

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji suspiciously.

She recalled the scene just now and felt that the other party was extremely fast. She had no time to react before her right hand was grabbed and she could not move.

Chen Ji asked politely, "Miss Zhang Er, why don't you come with me back to Taiping Clinic later? I'll ask Master to prescribe some medicine for you to treat your injuries."

However, Zhang Xia waved her hand and said, "No need, I'm not that delicate!"

Chen Ji asked again: "Miss Zhang Er, what did you call me for just now?"

Zhang Xia got straight to the point and said, "I misunderstood my father's words earlier and thought we were going to get engaged. I ran to you impulsively and said some nonsense. I came to you just now to apologize to you, but you twisted my arm today, so we are even now!"

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Apologize?"

Zhang Xia hummed: "If you really want me to apologize, it's okay for me to apologize."

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia. His pair of phoenix eyes were like two scimitars, incredibly sharp.

He thought for a moment and said, "It was just a misunderstanding before. You don't need to apologize to me. Just talk it out. I wish Miss Zhang Er can find a good match."

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji: "Weren't you angry before?"

Chen Ji didn't want to dwell on it any further: "I'm not angry, let's just forget about it."

"Okay," Zhang Xia saw that the matter was over, but he said, "Why are you late today? Why do you look like you haven't slept all night?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Zhang Xia changed the subject: "I heard from my father that you are having a quarrel with Master Chen and don't want to go back to the Chen family. But you have the ambition to start your own business, and now you have the opportunity to study with Mr. Wang. You should cherish it. Why do you want to give up on yourself?"

Chen Ji said seriously: "I do have something important to do, and it is not my intention to be late."

Zhang Xia asked in confusion: "What's the matter?"

"Sorry, I can't tell you."

Zhang Xia said solemnly: "Today is the first day of school. No matter how big the matter is, you should postpone it. This is not only responsible for your own future and destiny, but also respect for Mr. Wang. Mr. Wang is highly respected. It is not easy for ordinary scholars to meet him. I hope you can correct your attitude and study hard with him."

Chen Ji said softly, "It is indeed wrong to be late on the first day of school. I will apologize to Mr. Wang in person later."

Zhang Xia looked at the bloodshot in his eyes and asked suspiciously, "You didn't really go to the gambling house like the rumors say, did you?"

Chen Ji said calmly, "It's up to Miss Zhang Er."

Just as he finished speaking, he heard a voice beside him saying, "If he wasn't going to gamble, why is he late?"

……

……

Chen Ji looked over and saw Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao coming out side by side. Chen Wenxiao continued with a sneer, "Zhang Xia, he must have gone out to gamble last night. You must be careful, what if Lord Zhang really wants to marry you..."

Zhang Xia suddenly interrupted Chen Wenxiao: "How can you be so arbitrary without any evidence? Who I marry or not is none of your business."

Chen Wenxiao was stunned.

Zhang Xia said disdainfully, "Even if I really get engaged to him, it's between me and him. I said he can, but you said he can't. Don't think I don't know how you got the title of the top scholar in the imperial examination. I asked my father to copy your essays. Chen Wenzong and Lin Chaojing deserved the title, but the "State Governance Policy" you wrote is shit. I don't know what you have learned in the past three years at Donglin Academy?"

Chen Wenxiao's face flushed instantly: "You...how can you not know what's good for you? I was just speaking up for you."

"Do I need you to speak for me?" Zhang Xia sneered, "I heard that you've been attending banquets and accepting congratulations from others recently. I advise you to stay at home honestly, so as not to make others laugh when you talk about the article with others!"

Chen Ji was also stunned. This Second Miss Zhang had such a sharp tongue.

The other party is not targeting himself, but looks down on every uneducated person fairly!

At this time, Princess Baili and the Crown Prince were saying goodbye to Wang Daosheng. As soon as they walked into the front hall, they saw Zhang Xia saying something in a menacing manner.

Bai Li stepped forward and stood in front of Chen Ji, raised his thin eyebrows and said, "Zhang Xia, what are you going to do now?"

Zhang Xia looked at Bai Li, then at Chen Ji, and let out a light exclamation.

Before she could say anything, she saw a carriage stopped at the door.

Zhang Zhuo lifted the curtain of the carriage, leaned out and greeted everyone in the front hall: "Everyone is here."

The Crown Prince, Bai Li, Chen Wenzong and the others all bowed and said, "Master Zhang."

Zhang Xia came to the door and asked curiously, "Father, why are you here?"

Zhang Zhuo laughed and said, "I just happened to be passing by, so I'll take you home."

Zhang Xia frowned: "I'm not a child anymore, you don't need to catch it! If others see it, they will think I'm spoiled!"

"It's just a matter of convenience. It's only natural for a father to pick up his daughter. No one else will say anything," Zhang Zhuo jumped off the carriage, walked past Zhang Xia, and pulled Chen Ji aside.

Everyone in the front hall looked at each other. Zhang Xia looked at his father's absent-minded back and suddenly felt that the other party was not here to pick him up, but found an excuse to look for Chen Ji!
Behind a bookshelf, Zhang Zhuo lowered his voice and asked, "Do you need me to explain something to Wang Daosheng?"

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Zhuo with a strange expression: "When did Lord Zhang find out my identity?" Zhang Zhuo stroked his beard proudly: "I have a photographic memory. I can recognize a person just by looking at his walking posture or even listening to his footsteps."

Chen Ji sighed inwardly and said, "I hope Master Zhang can help keep it a secret."

Zhang Zhuo smiled and said, "Don't worry, don't worry."

As he spoke, Zhang Zhuo's expression darkened. "It's a pity that you didn't take the official route to the imperial examination. Otherwise, you could have come to help me after the palace examination next year, which would have given me even more power. Now that you've entered the Imperial Household Department, you're a member of the eunuch party for life. Those civil servants will never accept you again."

"Thank you for your kindness, Master Zhang. It's no problem."

Zhang Zhuo asked, "Do you need me to explain to Wang Daosheng why you were late today?"

"No need," Chen Ji shook his head, "I will go and apologize to Mr. Wang myself, and Mr. Zhang, please don't stay here, it will easily arouse suspicion."

"Okay," Zhang Zhuo turned and walked out, taking Zhang Xia's wrist and getting on the carriage.

In the carriage, Zhang Xia looked at his father: "You are not here to pick me up, are you? You clearly came here specifically to look for Chen Ji!"

Zhang Zhuo thought for a moment and explained, "Yesterday you acted rashly and went to talk to Chen Ji about a bunch of nonsense. I have to go and explain it to him."

Zhang Xia hurriedly said, "Don't worry, father. I have made it clear to him that he and I are not engaged. But this is very strange. He was late on the first day of school. No wonder everyone said he was a hopeless case."

Zhang Zhuo was speechless for a moment.

He gently lifted the curtain and looked at Chen Ji standing at the gate of the academy, ready to watch the carriage go away.

Obviously, this young man performed a great deed last night and saved thousands of people in front of the West City Gate, but he couldn't tell anyone around him about it.

Zhang Zhuo sighed softly: "It must be unpleasant to be misunderstood."

Zhang Xia asked curiously, "Father, what are you talking about?"

Zhang Zhuo lowered the curtains and said nonchalantly, "My girl, when you look at someone, don't listen to what others say, you have to understand it yourself."

Zhang Xia said, "Who cares? Anyway, I will not interfere with him in the future. What kind of person he is is none of my business."

After that, she jumped off the carriage and shouted, "Zao Zao!"

The next moment, a group of maroon horses galloped out from the alley.

Zao Zao did not stop when she passed by Zhang Xia. The girl quickly grabbed the saddle and jumped onto the horse. "Father, go home by yourself. Don't come to pick me up next time!"

Zhang Zhuo sat in the car, looking at the girl riding away on her horse, and said quietly, "Girl, it's too early to talk."

……

……

In the front hall of Zhixing Academy.

Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao had already boarded the carriage and left.

Bai Li gently pulled Chen Ji's sleeve and said, "I asked my mother yesterday. Zhang Xia is a lawless mad girl. You must not take her words to heart. She attended the Imperial College in the capital a few years ago and made many doctors there angry. But Lord Xu loved her, and Xu Shu, the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory, also doted on her. No one could do anything to her."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "It's okay. Princess and Prince, please go back to the palace for now. I still need to apologize to Mr. Wang in person."

The prince shrank his neck and said, "Then you have to be careful. Mr. Wang is very strict and we can't help you."

As he said that, the prince pulled Baili and walked out.

Bai Li frowned: "Brother, don't pull me, let's go and plead for Chen Ji."

The prince lowered his voice and said, "Why are we going there together? Are we going to get scolded together? Mr. Wang has disliked me for a long time!"

Chen Ji listened to the sound gradually fading away, straightened his clothes, and stepped into the backyard.

The backyard is clean and tidy. There is a plum tree planted in the southwest corner. The buds are already formed and are about to bloom.

Mr. Wang, who was wearing a blue Confucian robe and holding a sutra in his hand, with a white paper flower on his chest, was standing under the plum tree in a trance.

Chen Ji stood still and bowed: "Sir, I was busy last night..."

Wang Daosheng didn't even turn his head, just looked at Meihua calmly and asked, "Is it something important?"

Chen Ji said seriously: "Yes."

Wang Daosheng said calmly: "Do you think it is more important to enter school on time today, or to accomplish this task?"

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment: "It is more important to accomplish this."

Wang Daosheng said calmly: "That's enough."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Sir?"

Wang Daosheng looked over slowly and said, "My Zhixing Academy cannot give you a career in the officialdom. It can only teach you some principles of being a human being. However, even the greatest principles cannot surpass your heart. If your heart is free of flaws, just follow it."

Chen Ji bowed again and said, "I understand."

Wang Daosheng walked towards the main house, but before entering the house, he changed the subject: "But you have to remember, if you break the rules, you will be punished. This is the rule of the world, and it is also the rule of my Zhixing Academy. If you are late again next time, you will be punished."

"clear."

Chen Ji looked at the empty courtyard and then at the plum tree. He felt that this Wang Daosheng was a little strange, different from Zhang Zhuo and Chen Liqin.

He is like a rebellious scholar who only talks about his own ideas.

Chen Ji took a deep breath, turned around and walked out.

But as soon as he went out, he was stunned. He saw Golden Pig squatting across the street wearing a bamboo hat, glancing at the breakfast shop next door from time to time. In the wok in front of the shop, vegetable scraps and fried dough sticks were tumbling.

Chen Ji looked around Anxi Street, and then quickly came to the Golden Pig: "Master Golden Pig, we have only been apart for a few hours, you don't have to miss me so much, right?"

When Jin Zhu heard the voice, he suddenly looked up, his eyes gleaming with brilliance: "Do you think I will always come to see you? Your cultivation path was sent to Luocheng in advance! How strange! My letter requesting merit for you should have just arrived in the capital yesterday, how come the cultivation path was sent to you today?!"

(End of this chapter)